Electron State of Ni₄N Studied by Electron Diffraction

Abstract

Low order electron diffraction intensity is affected considerably by the electron state of constituent atoms. By using this fact, determination of the electron state of Ni₄N has been carried out by measuring the superstructure reflection intensity from polycrystalline Ni₄N films. The result shows that the electron state of nitrogen is slightly negative, i.e. N^−0.2±0.2.
The effect of systematic interaction on the superstructure reflection intensity has been investigated by changing the particle size (50–220Å) and the accelerating voltage (100, 150 and 200 kV), but it has not been found.